Yahoo! March 31
Elian Dad Rejects U.S. Residency
HAVANA, 31 (AP) - The father of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez has sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders protesting efforts to block Elian's repatriation to Cuba by giving him U.S. residency status, Cuba's communist government said today.
In a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Juan Miguel Gonzalez wrote that neither he nor any other member of his family living in Cuba wants to become a U.S. resident. They particularly oppose moves by American lawmakers to give
that status to the boy, he wrote.
The letter, published in the Communist Party daily Granma, was also signed by Gonzalez's wife, who is Elian's stepmother, as well as by the boy's four grandparents.
"We frankly are surprised that someone could undertake this initiative without our consent and without even consulting our opinion,'' the letter read. ``We are not in agreement and we hope the United States Senate does not approve it.''
The letter said the move to grant Elian residency status was designed ``to perpetuate the arbitrary retention of Elian Gonzalez Brotons in the United States.''
Supporters of American legislation seeking to block the deportation of the 6-year-old to his homeland admit that their chances of success are slight.
Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., principal author of legislation introduced Wednesday, said the drama unfolding in Miami presented a ``frightful'' possibility: ``a little boy being dragged from his home by law enforcement people and sent to Cuba. The Senate can stop this.'' But Smith said he didn't know
whether his measure would find much support and conceded that opponents could find parliamentary ways to delay it.
The bill would give Elian residency status immediately while offering the same protection to his father and other Cuban relatives should they come to the United States, Smith said.
Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., would grant Elian full citizenship. Leaders in both chambers have made no moves to bring that bill to a vote.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Cuba: Elian Entourage Non-Negotiable
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 30 (AP) - The sizable entourage that Cuba is sending with Elian Gonzalez's father to the United States is not negotiable, the government said Thursday, responding to the surprise expressed by some U.S. officials.
About 30 Cubans will travel with the elder Gonzalez when he travels to reclaim his 6-year-old son, the government has said. They include a dozen of Elian's first-grade classmates from his school as well as specialists and others.
Everyone on the list is ``indispensable for the reinsertion of the child in his family and social environment,'' the government said in a statement carried by state media Thursday evening.
``We will not make concessions of any kind when it comes to the safety and health of the boy, who today is in criminal hands and practically without any kind of protection.''
U.S. State Department officials were taken aback by the large number proposed in the group.
U.S. officials are examining visa regulations to determine how many of the would-be companions would be eligible to join Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, on the proposed trip. There are strict eligibility limits for Cuban visas.
Officials declined to speculate on whether the entourage being proposed by Castro would be granted visas.
In Cardenas, a two-hour's drive east of Havana, Elian's classmates were excited Thursday about the prospect of a trip to visit their friend in the United States. Parents of the classmates chosen from the trip said they had given their permission for their children to travel.
``When I see Elian I will give him a big hug!'' 6-year-old Hanser Muniz Pedroso, Elian's best friend and deskmate, told Associated Press Television News.
``We have put aside a suitcase to prepare all the clothes and a toothbrush,'' said Dianela Cartaya Macias, 6, during a visit to Elian's classroom at Marcelo Salado Elementary School.
Pedroso indicated he had worried about Elian ever since the boy was rescued off the coast of Florida in late November. Since then, Elian has become a national issue in Cuba, where the government has regularly rallied thousands of people calling for the child's return to his communist homeland.
While his father and four grandparents here are demanding his repatriation, his relatives in Miami, who have temporary custody of him, are fighting to keep him in the United States.
Under Castro's proposal, Elian's father would travel to the United States to claim his son - if the American government guarantees that he will be given custody of his child.
Then, father, son and other members of the family, the dozen schoolchildren and specialists including psychologists and psychiatrists would stay in Washington at the homes of Cuban diplomats during the Miami relatives appeal of a U.S. district judge's rejection of their request of a political
asylum hearing for the boy.
``I'm not scared at all to get on a plane,'' said schoolmate Julio Cesar Cazanas, 6. ``I'm not scared of that country or those people there.''
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Gore: Keep Elian in U.S. for Now
By Glen Johnson, Associated Press Writer.
WASHINGTON, 30 (AP) - Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) wants Elian Gonzalez's case resolved in Florida family court, a position that puts him at odds with the administration he serves but in step with South Florida's politically potent Cuban exile community.
In a statement Thursday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee urged Congress to pass legislation granting permanent resident status not only to the 6-year-old boy but to his father, stepmother, half-brother, grandmothers and grandfather - all now in Cuba - ``so that the case can be
adjudicated properly.''
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has demanded that the boy's Miami relatives agree to release him if they lose an appeal to keep him in the country. Most Cuban-Americans living in the Miami area strongly oppose administration efforts to return Elian to Cuba.
Gore's announcement took top congressional Democrats by surprise. House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt had no immediate reaction. An aide said Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle continues to believe that ``the boy should be returned to his father in Cuba.''
The vice president's Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush (news - web sites), called Gore's announcement an ``11th-hour position.'' Bush said in January that he supported such legislation.
``I'm glad the vice president has seen the wisdom of the way,'' Bush said Thursday in Milwaukee. ``What he ought to do is convince the attorney general and the president to accept the same position. ... We'll see what kind of influence he has in this administration.''
House Majority Whip Tom Delay, R-Texas, said Gore ``now has an obligation to work with us to keep Elian Gonzalez in the United States.'' Delay said he welcomed Gore's statement, whether it was reached ``through his concern for the Electoral College or as a genuine matter of conscience.''
Florida has 25 electoral votes, the fourth-largest prize available on Election Day. The state was initially thought to be favorable to Bush, since his brother, Jeb, is governor. But Gore has increased his campaigning there if for no other reason than to force Bush to spend time and money in the
state.
Elian was left stranded on an inner tube on Thanksgiving Day after his mother and 10 others drowned while trying to flee Cuba for the United States.
The INS has pushed back until early next week its deadline for revoking Elian's right to stay in the United States if his Miami relatives refuse to agree to turn him over. A lawyer for Elian's father, meanwhile, said he was applying for visas so the family in Cuba could retrieve him.
Over time, Gore has been distancing himself from the administration on the issue, saying previously he felt the case would be best resolved in Florida family court.
He formally broke ranks by announcing his support for legislation introduced by Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla. A similar bill has been filed by Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. Bush, meanwhile, supports similar legislation introduced by Graham's colleague, Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla.
``Let us be clear that the real fault in this case lies with the oppressive regime of Fidel Castro,'' the vice president said in the statement. ``Elian should never have been forced to choose between freedom and his own father. Now we must take action, here on our own shores, to make sure that
Elian's best interests are served.''
Speaking with reporters in Wisconsin, Bush repeated that the boy and his father should be allowed to remain in the United States while the case is decided in Florida family court.
``I would hope if Mr. Gonzalez does come over, that he come over as a person who's able to make a decision based on his desire, that he be given a chance to feel in America what freedom means before he makes any decision, and that decision be made in a family court,'' Bush said.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Elian Dad's Visa Attempt Hits Snag
By Alex Veiga. .c The Associated Press
MIAMI, 31) - A request by Elian Gonzalez's father to come to the United States may be complicating custody negotiations between the boy's Miami relatives and the U.S. government.
Armando Gutierrez, a spokesman for the relatives, said the strategy by Elian's father was ``harming'' talks with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which have ended for the week with no agreement. He did not elaborate.
``Like the family, we are monitoring developments concerning the possible arrival of Juan Miguel Gonzalez in the United States,'' Miami INS director Robert Wallis said late Thursday.
While the future home of the 6-year-old boy remains unclear, the INS has agreed to hold more talks with his Miami relatives on Monday. The agency wants a written guarantee that they will surrender Elian if they lose their court battle to keep him in the United States.
The INS said it would revoke the boy's residency status but twice this week backed away from a deadline. Still, dozens of anti-Castro activists linked arms outside the boy's Miami home Thursday, practicing resistance techniques.
``We will not let Elian's civil rights be violated,'' said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the anti-Castro Democracy Movement.
Elian was rescued in November after the boat carrying him and his mother sank during a voyage to reach the United States. His mother, who was divorced from his father, died along with 10 others.
Since then, the boy has been the subject of custody fight between the governments of both nations, which want to return him to his father in Cuba, and Miami relatives who say he will have a better life here.
The boy's father asked for a visa Thursday to come from Cuba to the United States. Gregory Craig, a Washington-based lawyer representing the boy's father, said his client is ready to take custody of his son at a moment's notice.
``The only person that has the legal and moral authority to speak for Elian Gonzalez is his father,'' Craig said.
Craig said he asked the INS to allow the father and other Cuban relatives to stay as long as it takes to complete the court case. A federal appeals court in Atlanta has scheduled arguments for May 11.
Craig said Elian's father will travel to the United States as soon as he is assured by the INS that he will be given custody of his son. The lawyer said he will also seek permission for the boy's classmates, teacher and doctors to travel to the United States to ``help smooth the transition.''
The visa request by Elian's father hit a procedural snag Thursday. State Department officials told Craig visa applications must be submitted to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana.
The Cuban government issued a list of 31 people who would accompany Elian's father, including his wife and son - Elian's half-brother. It also included Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and Fidel Castro's point man on American affairs.
In a statement carried by state media Thursday night, Castro's government said the inclusion of everyone on the list, including a dozen of Elian's first-grade classmates, isn't negotiable. The government said each person was ``indispensable for the reinsertion of the child in his family and
social environment.''
U.S. officials were examining visa regulations to determine how many of the would-be companions would be eligible to join Elian's father. Strict eligibility limits exist for Cuban visas.
Officials declined to speculate on whether the entourage proposed by Castro would be granted visas.
In Cardenas, a two-hour's drive east of Havana, Elian's classmates were excited about the prospect of a trip to visit their friend in the United States. Parents of the classmates chosen from the trip said they had given their permission for their children to travel.
``When I see Elian I will give him a big hug!'' 6-year-old Hanser Muniz Pedroso, Elian's best friend and deskmate, told Associated Press Television News.
``I'm not scared at all to get on a plane,'' added schoolmate Julio Cesar Cazanas, 6. ``I'm not scared of that country or those people there.''
In another development, Vice President Al Gore broke with the Clinton administration and backed legislation in Congress that would grant permanent resident status to Elian, his father and other relatives in Cuba.
If that were to happen, the boy's fate would be decided by the courts and not by the INS. Gore's presidential rival, Republican George W. Bush, said he supports similar legislation.
AP-NY-03-31-00 0510EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.
Elian's Father Applies for U.S. Visa
By George Gedda, Associated Press Writer.
WASHINGTON, 30) - The father of Elian Gonzalez has applied for a visa to travel to the United States from Cuba to regain custody of his son, as the U.S. government and the 6-year-old boy's Miami relatives resumed talks to end the 4-month-old legal dispute.
Attorney Gregory Craig said today that he submitted the visa application on behalf of Juan Miguel Gonzalez, his wife and other family members.
``The only person that has the legal and moral authority to speak for Elian Gonzalez is his father,'' Craig told reporters. ``Juan Miguel Gonzalez is ready at a moment's notice to come to the United States.''
Craig said Elian's father would travel to the United States as soon as he is assured that he will be given custody of his son. ``The time has come for the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to make those assurances,'' he said.
The attorney said U.S. officials had negotiated patiently with the boy's Miami relatives to arrange a prompt, orderly transfer of custody to the father. ``We fear that the negotiations have failed,'' he said.
The government has demanded that the boy's Miami relatives agree to surrender Elian if they lose their court fight to keep him. Both sides met for five hours late Wednesday, then resumed talking this morning. There was no comment from either side today.
Late Wednesday, the INS delayed the revocation of Elian's temporary residency status 24 hours, until 9 a.m. Friday.
When Juan Miguel Gonzalez receives word that he will be able to take custody of his son, Craig said, he also would seek permission to allow the boy's classmates, teacher and doctors to travel to the United States to ``help smooth the transition.''
The attorney also accused the Miami relatives of exploiting the boy's case in the media.
``The circumstances that now surround Elian's life in Miami, including the decision to allow camera crews into Elian's bedroom, the decision to permit a network news program to film a two-day interview with Elian without the father's permission, and the decision just last night to parade Elian
in front of demonstrators in the streets of Miami, make it clear that Elian's best interests lie with his father,'' Craig said.
Elian has been living with his great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, who has said he would be willing to release Elian to his father if Juan Miguel Gonzalez came to Florida from Cuba. He said he would not deliver the boy to the INS.
Apparently calling the great-uncle's bluff, Cuban President Fidel Castro said Wednesday that not only would the father go to the United States, he would stay for the entire court process as the Miami relatives appeal federal orders to surrender custody of the boy.
It was the first time anyone has said the father was ready to come to the United States immediately and stay for the court fight.
``The passports are ready,'' Castro said. ``And of course the airplane is ready.''
The Cuban government today issued a list of 31 people who would accompany Juan Miguel Gonzalez, including his wife and their 6-month-old son - Elian's half brother. It also included Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and Castro's point man on American affairs, who was listed
as an ``adviser.''
At her weekly news conference in Washington, Attorney General Janet Reno said that if Gonzalez comes to the United States, one option would be to move the boy to his custody in this country while the appeals court considers the case. Other than that, she quickly added, ``I don't do what-ifs.''
Castro has proposed that Elian and his Cuban relatives stay at the home of the chief of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. Other members of the delegation would stay with other Cuban diplomats based in the city, he said.
Meanwhile, the head of Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington, Fernando Remirez, met today with State Department officials to discuss the possibility of Gonzalez's visit. Speaking briefly with reporters after the meeting, Remirez said no visas had been requested for the group as yet.
Since the international dispute over Elian erupted after the boy was rescued at sea more than four months ago, Gonzalez has been reluctant to travel to the United States to claim his child. The boy's mother, who was divorced from Elian's father, was among 11 people who died when their boat sank
during the journey from Cuba to the United States.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
INS: Elian To Dad, If He Comes
By George Gedda, Associated Press Writer.
WASHINGTON, 30 (AP) - The Immigration and Naturalization Service said Thursday that it would be ``hard pressed'' not to grant temporary custody of Elian Gonzalez to his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, if the elder Gonzalez comes to the United States.
The INS spelled out its position in response to a proposal by Cuban President Fidel Castro that the father come to Washington to be reunited with his son. But Gonzalez's lawyer, Gregory Craig, said the plan could be scuttled if the administration cannot provide assurances that temporary custody
is feasible.
Immigrations officials have demanded that Elian's Miami relatives promise in writing to turn over the boy if they lose their custody fight in federal court. The INS has also said that it will remove Elian from the custody of his great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, unless the relatives sign such an
agreement by 9 a.m. Tuesday.
A Justice Department official, requesting anonymity, said the agreement under discussion also would allow the INS to end his great-uncle's temporary custody in the event of a material change in circumstances, ``including his father's coming to the United States.''
There also are questions about whether the State Department will give the green light to another Cuban proposal - that Elian's classmates and some doctors be allowed to form part of the entourage.
Craig attempted to apply for visas Thursday for family members and a senior Cuban official but a State Department official informed him that the applications must be filed at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. Efforts to reach Craig after his State Department visit were unsuccessful.
There was a rare coincidence of views between the U.S. and Cuban governments over the issue of a visit by the father. Both agree that the father should be reunited with his son here at least until the legal process is completed. Elian has been staying with his great-uncle, who is fighting to
keep the 6-year-old boy in the United States.
``We do believe that when the time comes to transfer Elian, the smoothest and least traumatic transition would be if he were to go from Lazaro Gonzalez's house to his father's side,'' INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona said.
Said State Department spokesman James Foley: ``We believe his presence in the U.S. can be helpful to a successful resolution of the case.''
And both Washington and Havana have strongly opposed the efforts of many in the Cuban exile community in Miami to prevent the return of Elian to Cuba because of the communist system on the island. The case has produced the first deep rupture between the exile community and the U.S. government.
Four Republican members of House leadership accused the administration on Wednesday of heavy-handed tactics by demanding that Elian's Miami relatives agree to surrender the boy if they lose their court fight to keep him. If the relatives rule out such a promise, the administration has warned
that Elian could face imminent deportation.
In a letter to President Clinton, the four said the Justice Department was threatening ``removal action'' against Elian while his case is pending before an appellate court.
``This practice must end,'' the letter said. It was signed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and three other members of the House GOP leadership.
The Elian case has exhausted the staff at the small Cuban diplomatic mission here. Fernando Remirez, who heads the mission, was up most of the night on Wednesday mapping strategy with officials in Havana, an aide said.
He was at the State Department early Thursday morning, delivering a copy of Castro's Wednesday night speech on his proposal for a U.S. visit of Elian's father. If Gonzalez comes here, he would stay at Remirez's home. The big question was whether Elian's Miami relatives would be willing to
surrender the boy to his father. If the relatives refuse, Craig said Juan Gonzalez won't make the trip.
Gonzalez wants to come here accompanied by his wife, 6-month old son and National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, a specialist on U.S. issues. At some point, they would be joined by almost 30 others, including Elian's classmates and several doctors.
On Thursday, administration officials were examining visa regulations to determine how many of the would-be companions would be eligible to join the elder Gonzalez.
There are strict eligibility limits for Cuban visas. Athletes, artists, clerics and others with a professional interest in visiting the United States are eligible, as are visits of a humanitarian nature.
Officials declined to speculate on whether the entourage being proposed by Castro would be granted visas. They were mystified as to why Castro would propose that so many classmates of Elian be taken out of school to come to the United States.
EDITOR'S NOTE - AP reporter Michael J. Sniffen contributed to this report.
On the Net: State Department: http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/cuba/index.html
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Reno Troubled By Elian Turmoil
By Michael J. Sniffen. .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, 30 (AP) - Attorney General Janet Reno, a Miami native who was the elected state prosecutor for 15 years there, is visibly troubled as she deals with that city's large Cuban exile community over the ``heartbreaking'' case of Elian Gonzalez.
``It is a community I was born in, raised in. It's a community I love. And when it's hurting, it hurts me,'' Reno told reporters Thursday - her eyes glistening briefly with tears she blinked away.
Reno often opens her weekly news conference with a word-by-word recitation of a staff-written statement, but Thursday she brought only two sentences she had typed and a few phrases she had written by hand.
The 61-year-old attorney general spoke for about five minutes with evident emotion about the hometown that elected her five times and the ``very wonderful contribution'' made to it by the Cubans who began arriving 40 years ago. She explained her view of the case she called ``heartbreaking for
everybody involved.''
As is her custom with critics, she refused to characterize Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and 22 mayors of nearby towns who accused her of provocations that could lead to violence and who vowed not to help take Elian away from his Miami relatives and return him to his Cuban father.
Reno is no stranger to violence in Miami. In 1979, she charged five white Miami-Dade police officers with the manslaughter of a black insurance executive after a motorcycle chase.
When they were acquitted, black rioters chanting ``Reno, Reno, Reno'' burned and looted. Sixteen people died; damage reached $200 million. Reno prosecuted the rioters, then worked hard to win back the black community's confidence.
Reno said the Cubans who came to Miami often worked three jobs at a time, built strong families and became ``leaders of Miami ... the bankers, the businessmen, the physicians and doctors and lawyers ... the musicians, the poets, the professors and architects who have built a splendid city
shining in the sun.''
``I don't think they came to this country to incite violence,'' Reno said. ``I think they came to this country to able to speak their mind, to follow the law, to respect others.... For the Cuban community I know, we're in solid agreement that the rule of law should apply.''
Friends and acquaintances from Miami call Reno frequently. On Wednesday night, the Cuban-American pop singer Gloria Estefan telephoned to express concern for Elian; Reno spent 15 minutes explaining her position, according to Justice aides, who requested anonymity.
``We believe the law is clear,'' Reno said Thursday. ``The father must speak for the little boy because there is a sacred bond that must be honored - and the boy must be reunited with his father.''
She said she believes Fidel Castro runs a repressive society in Cuba, but said that is not the deciding issue. ``I ... have seen people raised in Cuba who have come to this country who are perfectly wonderful people.''
She offered this argument by example of what should be the deciding issue:
Suppose an accident killed a mother, badly injured a father but spared their son. The boy ``went to live with Aunt Lucy, who's rich, lived in a big house, had moderate political opinions, and did everything just right by the little boy.''
But when the disabled father sought to get his boy back, ``Aunt Lucy said, `No. I can far better raise this boy. To take him away from me now would be terribly damaging to him psychologically. I can do better by him ... and I don't like his father's political beliefs.'
``To say that father couldn't get that child back in those circumstances tears at the very fabric of the family relationship,'' Reno said. ``We have got to have some presumption in favor of the family and of parents.''
Reno said the government could have already taken custody of the boy: ``Nothing, no court order, prevented us from doing so.''
But the department held back to let Elian's relatives take the issue to court, where they lost. Discussions continue with those relatives ``to ensure that an appeal is heard in a timely way,'' she said.
``Nothing will be done to return Elian if that happens and everybody agrees that they will abide by the ruling that comes down,'' she said.
Asked if she is prepared ultimately to enforce the law, Reno replied, ``You bet.''
AP-NY-03-30-00 1732EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. |